I CAN’T understand why the ministers in the People’s National Movement (PNM) are so arrogant.
They can’t even be bothered to listen to our citizens and their concerns or the opposition. On January 23, 2024, I had the privilege of being appointed as a temporary senator and I was humbled by the opportunity. Really humbled.
It was just humbled and impressed at the same time to be in place where many great men and women walked the corridors. The opposition leader gave me this opportunity and I was very thankful for the privilege. I saw the opportunity to make a difference at a different level and maybe with more humility.
The personality and arrogance portrayed by some of the members on the other side was quite eye-opening though. Not all mind you, but many of them who have the larger portfolios. If you have ever been around or dealt with these types of people, these politicians, you will have noticed how they feel they are above the average citizen and how they feel about their entitlement.
What I have seen in my experience and what is hard for me to understand is how far they are really willing to go and to what extent to achieve power and remain in power. The political game is not for the faint of heart. It’s a cutthroat business. For these people to reach where they are with large portfolios, I’m sure that they must have been willing to do what it takes and step over the dead bodies, politically of course. They must have been willing to prevaricate and manipulate. It doesn’t seem that they believed that they will make it to the top unless they were willing to do this.
In my opinion, this is not the case with the opposition leader. She has always been a very caring and genuine politician who tried everything possible to assist the less fortunate and vulnerable. Her motto to her team has always been “serve the people, serve the people, serve the people”. She has had her fair share of detractors and many people have stabbed her in her back, people she has genuinely put in high places however, she has always conducted herself with dignity and integrity.
I must say that almost all the most prominent PMM politicians fall into the Machiavellian personality type – a trait that denotes trickery, manipulation and a drive to attain power by any means.
In my short encounter in the senate, not many of these exalted persons even made an effort to appear to be “nice”. Many didn’t even bother to greet the neophyte.
So let’s not be fooled, the ones that the prime minister has exalted are also the leaders we have to look up to. Where they also have constantly bullied their counterparts on the opposite side. We are always trying to eradicate bullying in schools and trying to teach our children not to be bullies and call their fellow students degrading names. In politics, the case seems to be just the opposite-attack, degradation and destruction are the names of the game.
In many cases the amount of lies and innuendos we see in this arena, we have come to expect that the people in positions of great power are individuals willing to be bendable with their ethical convictions.
In my opinion, you should make sure you pick a person with the qualities of the opposition leader who truly wants to work for the betterment of our people and serves their interests best, based on what they stand for, their track record and their background. And remember, don’t put anyone too high up on a pedestal as we are only human and just as the interests of people are different, so will be their choices and sometimes they will not be your choices.
Don’t get caught up with the power of office where you feel you can deceive and trick and when elections come around, you get people to vote for you but in the end, we see no uplifting in our lives.
They get the best treatment, everywhere they go they get red carpet treatment. Hope you see where I am going with this? You must realise that this is not a caring government as they only care about themselves and keeping themselves in governance so only they can live the “good life”. Don’t go off on how “nice” they seem or not, recognise the arrogance when you see it. Underneath each of them is a narcissistic personality.
Neil Gosine is an insurance executive. He was appointed a temporary Opposition Senator and is also the treasurer of the UNC and a former chairman of the National Petroleum Marketing Company of Trinidad and Tobago. He holds a Doctorate in Business Administration, a Master’s in Business Administration MBA, BSC in Mathematics and a BA in Administrative Studies. The views and comments expressed in this column are not necessarily those of AZP News, a Division of Complete Image Limited.
AZP News is an independent news organisation that is not affiliated with any big business and depends solely on advertising to pay our bills. Therefore, we are asking for the generosity of our readers to help us with small donations of any amount, but we will be happy with US$1, US$5 or US$10. Click Here to Donate
Commentary: PNM and Machiavelli
By Neil Gosine
I CAN’T understand why the ministers in the People’s National Movement (PNM) are so arrogant.
They can’t even be bothered to listen to our citizens and their concerns or the opposition. On January 23, 2024, I had the privilege of being appointed as a temporary senator and I was humbled by the opportunity. Really humbled.
It was just humbled and impressed at the same time to be in place where many great men and women walked the corridors. The opposition leader gave me this opportunity and I was very thankful for the privilege. I saw the opportunity to make a difference at a different level and maybe with more humility.
The personality and arrogance portrayed by some of the members on the other side was quite eye-opening though. Not all mind you, but many of them who have the larger portfolios. If you have ever been around or dealt with these types of people, these politicians, you will have noticed how they feel they are above the average citizen and how they feel about their entitlement.
What I have seen in my experience and what is hard for me to understand is how far they are really willing to go and to what extent to achieve power and remain in power. The political game is not for the faint of heart. It’s a cutthroat business. For these people to reach where they are with large portfolios, I’m sure that they must have been willing to do what it takes and step over the dead bodies, politically of course. They must have been willing to prevaricate and manipulate. It doesn’t seem that they believed that they will make it to the top unless they were willing to do this.
In my opinion, this is not the case with the opposition leader. She has always been a very caring and genuine politician who tried everything possible to assist the less fortunate and vulnerable. Her motto to her team has always been “serve the people, serve the people, serve the people”. She has had her fair share of detractors and many people have stabbed her in her back, people she has genuinely put in high places however, she has always conducted herself with dignity and integrity.
I must say that almost all the most prominent PMM politicians fall into the Machiavellian personality type – a trait that denotes trickery, manipulation and a drive to attain power by any means.
In my short encounter in the senate, not many of these exalted persons even made an effort to appear to be “nice”. Many didn’t even bother to greet the neophyte.
So let’s not be fooled, the ones that the prime minister has exalted are also the leaders we have to look up to. Where they also have constantly bullied their counterparts on the opposite side. We are always trying to eradicate bullying in schools and trying to teach our children not to be bullies and call their fellow students degrading names. In politics, the case seems to be just the opposite-attack, degradation and destruction are the names of the game.
In many cases the amount of lies and innuendos we see in this arena, we have come to expect that the people in positions of great power are individuals willing to be bendable with their ethical convictions.
In my opinion, you should make sure you pick a person with the qualities of the opposition leader who truly wants to work for the betterment of our people and serves their interests best, based on what they stand for, their track record and their background. And remember, don’t put anyone too high up on a pedestal as we are only human and just as the interests of people are different, so will be their choices and sometimes they will not be your choices.
Don’t get caught up with the power of office where you feel you can deceive and trick and when elections come around, you get people to vote for you but in the end, we see no uplifting in our lives.
They get the best treatment, everywhere they go they get red carpet treatment. Hope you see where I am going with this? You must realise that this is not a caring government as they only care about themselves and keeping themselves in governance so only they can live the “good life”. Don’t go off on how “nice” they seem or not, recognise the arrogance when you see it. Underneath each of them is a narcissistic personality.
Neil Gosine is an insurance executive. He was appointed a temporary Opposition Senator and is also the treasurer of the UNC and a former chairman of the National Petroleum Marketing Company of Trinidad and Tobago. He holds a Doctorate in Business Administration, a Master’s in Business Administration MBA, BSC in Mathematics and a BA in Administrative Studies. The views and comments expressed in this column are not necessarily those of AZP News, a Division of Complete Image Limited.
AZP News is an independent news organisation that is not affiliated with any big business and depends solely on advertising to pay our bills. Therefore, we are asking for the generosity of our readers to help us with small donations of any amount, but we will be happy with US$1, US$5 or US$10. Click Here to Donate